Cause and effect. [Ruth 1-4 ]

I believe in cause and effect ,the absuridy of evoultion is it does not really have an answer as to how everything not only came into being,and how everything became what they are. Now I have just started to read that lovely little book of Ruth, I say a lovely little book, yet we have serious things mentioned,famine,being  refugees,death, and desitution. The story takes place at the time of the Judges,the time when God raised up men and a woman, to rescue and rule over His people.Naomi is one the main people in this story,she lost so much,but gained a wonderful daughter-in-law, Ruth.[cp 1v16-18] Naomi and her family had gone to live in the land of Moab,she retuned with only her daughter-in-law Ruth,as she enters her home town Bethlehem ,her neighbours spoke to her,is this Naomi?,and she replies,/call me not Naomi[ pleasent] call me Mara[bitter]: for the Lord hath dealt bitterly with me.Yes she had to drink a bitter cup,but I dont believe she was bitter,or resentful towards God, but she acknowledged that the Lord had dealt with her.To her God was the first cause,if we are going through a trial remember God is has not lost control,we may not understand His ways,Naomi did'nt,but He is in control,He is working out His sovereign will in this world and in His childrens lives.So trust Him ,to even bring deliverance, and blessing into your life,for the end of a thing is better than the beginning.
A prayer ...../ Dear God help us to keep our eyes upon You ,help us to trust in You in every situation in Jesus Name/

Fear of falling. [ Jude v 24;25 ]

Just recently I had a fear of falling, I don't mean physically, I mean spiritually,after all consider David a man after Gods own heart,he fell in the most awful manner, and all the consequences of that fall.Or consider Peter who walked with Jesus ,personally heard His  teaching, witnessed his miraculous power,yet he fell,oh he fell,what a tragedy. So what hope is there me,will I stand the test as Joseph did?,will I  stand and having done all to stand?. One has to be honest, so that others who are struggling may take heart,that we are all in the same boat,prone to wander Lord I feel it,prone to leave the God I love. Alright, what we can we say about this?well it is not a sin to feel like this,it would be a sin to give into those feelings. Paul, he needed an affliction to keep him from pride, what will God send into our lives to preserve our souls?,for He will preserve us, of this I am sure ,we are told we are kept by the power of God,He is able to keep us and deliver us.John Bunyan wrote the following,
                 O world of wonders.I can say no less,
                  That I should be preserved in that distress,
                  That I have met with here,O Blessed be,
                  That hand that from it, hath delivered me.
                  Dangers in darkness,devils,hell, and sin,
                    Did compass me,while I this vale was in.
                    Yea, snares and pits, and traps,and nets did lie
                     My path about, that worthless, silly I,
                    Might have been catch'd, entangled, and cast down;
                      But since I live ,let Jesus wear the crown
A  prayer..../..Dear God have mercy upon us, deliver us from evil without, and evil within in Jesus name Amem/

Pray, pray, pray. [ 1 Thessalonians 5 v 17]

I read these three words yesterday,/Pray,pray, pray/, in Luke 2 v36ff we read of a prophetess Anna who served the Lord with fastings and prayers night and day.She reminds me of a widow woman I knew called Rose,Rose never got out much ,but she prayed continually.We all need to be like these two women,we need to pray,pray,pray,I suppose I consider myself a man of prayer,and yet I know I need to pray more,we cannot slacken in this vital service.There is so much to pray about ,the need is great,the time is short,our needs and the needs of others are ever there.We are not talking about a shopping list mentality,though I do not like that term,we are talking of meeting with God,think about those words ,meeting with God.The God who loves us,with a sacrificial love,whose children we are,and delights when we pray,and listens intently to what we have to say,who assures us that as a Father, He desires to bless us and help us.Unfortunately we often have to experience difficulties before we seek Him,I realise that it is easy to be critical of others,to judge others.,because of there lack of prayer.In Psalm 103 v13-14 we read,/Like as a father pitieth his children,so the Lord pitieth them that fear Him. For He knoweth our frame,He remembereth that we are dust/.This word is not written to judge you but to encourage us all to pray,pray ,pray.
A prayer  ...../Dear God and Father are hearts are full of desire,we hunger and thirst for so many  things,grant us all the grace to love Thee more,and to  seek You continually,in Jesus name Amen /

None so blind. [ 2 Corinthians 4 v4 ]

James Hamilton in his book on Michael Faraday,writes the following,/Great world events were passing under Faraday's very nose in that place, but he did not seem to fathom their importance/ . [Faraday and  Humphry Davy where visiting France during the Napoleonianic wars]This is not unusual in mankind take the Jews ,the waiting people,yes they are still waiting for a Messiah,and yet He came ,they should have recognised Him but in their blindness they did'nt. But the Jews are not on their own , we have passed through the Easter season,also the Christmas season,and yet how few people realise the importance of these seasons. Many people wear a cross who have not given any thought to its meaning,there is a saying ,there are none so blind who do not want to see.There are two factors that account for these things,sin and satan [1 Corinthians2 v14/2 Cor 4 v4 ].It is John who wrote,/And this is the condemnation that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light,because their deeds were evil[3 v19],Satan will do his dirty best to make people focus on the wrong things,to their eternal ruin,as he did with Judas. Yet let us not despair God is sovereign, He will yet move on the hearts of blind mankind by His Spirit,He can use us in this great task of rescuing the perishing, you do realise that as a Christian we are meant to witness to the unsaved?.
A  prayer.../Dear God help use us,to become fishers of men women, and children in Jesus name Amen/

Christs kingdom. [ John 18v36 ]

My Saviour said,/ My kingdom is not of this world [John 18 v36], just recently a former Archbishop of Canterbury writing in a national newspaper has criticised our Prime Minister,and his government,of  aiding and abetting secularisation within our society. The Prime Minister has pushed for gay marriages,many Christians believe that the government is not listening to their concerns. The fact of the matter is , our government and every other government,  will never represent the Kingdom of God,Jesus made it abundantly clear that His kingdom was not of this world.Many Christians find themselves under government's that are oppressive, and anti- Christian, when we vote we are not voting for the kingdom of God.As a Christian I have a dual nationality, I am a citizen of the United Kingdom and a citizen of Gods Kingdom. Whatever kingdom a Christian lives under ,they must be good citizen's,but that is not at the price of being told I have to change my religion,that I cannot have fellowship with other believers. In my own country I do not have that problem, but if I did then I must be prepared to take up my cross and follow Christ.It is interesting  in the same paper an agnostic wrote an article ,/The painful price we pay for love and the real meaning of Easter/,she wrote ,you cannot love without making sacrifices, and of the message of endurance that is entirely glorious/.
A  prayer...../ Dear Lord help Your people in whatever kingdom they find themselves in,to live as citizens of Your kingdom. Amen/

Failed again. [ John 8 v32 ]

And the children of Israel did evil again  in the sight of  Lord [ Judges 13 v1],it is easy to be over critical of Israel ,and forget that we are not so different. We are all inclined to repeat certain things that we know we shouldn't,take Peter,who had a wonderful revelation that Christianity was for everyone Jew and Gentiles[[Acts 10].Peter was in no doubt what this meant,but later he reverts back to his old way of thinking and acting ,and is rebuked by Paul [Galations 2 v11ff].The word of God stresses the importance on the renewing of our minds[Romans12v2] ,Proverbs 23 v7 stresses that we act out of how we think.it appears to me that,if I am going to break free from the sin that doth so easily besets me then I have to think differently.If my thought pattern does not change then I will not change,our Saviour was faced with people who had mind sets, based upon vain traditions,the traditions took over,and the truth of God,was not seen for what it was.Truth versus tradition,many churches have fallen into that trap,it is only the truth of Gods word that can set us free,there will be no change until we acknowledge and act upon Gods word. The unsaved person will not be saved until they gave up,their distorted way of thinking,and they embrace Christ who is the truth.Likewise as Christians we will never change if we continue to hold unto our old way of thinking,stop making excuses,stop feeling sorry for ourselves, and start standing firm on what Gods word teaches.
A  prayer...../Dear God so work in my life by Your Spirit, that I will think differently,according to word,and to act differently in Jesus name Amen /

Did Jesus smile?.[ Romans 12 v15 ]

Our Saviour was called a man of sorrows and rightly so,for He, more than anyone else understood the effect of sin and satan, upon this world.The demon possessed,sick,poor,the distortion of the word of God,resulting in harshness,the lack of compassion,also injustice was very prevalent,and He could see the heart of mankind.In coming into this fallen planet He redressed the balance in men's perception of God, that He was a God of love,to the Jew He taught that God loved this world.[Acts 1 v8 ],that God never meant the Jews to think that they should be the exclusive brethren.So He came this man of sorrows,motivated for mankind's highest good,to bring them into a relationship that was all inclusive, and all embracing. man , the hymn wrote, man of sorrows what a name, for the son of God who came, ruined sinners to reclaim.Here is a question,did Jesus ever smile?it is not recorded that He did,I suppose we do not want to lessen the truth that He was a man of sorrows,but I am sure that He smiled, I think it is important to say this, because many of us as Christians only relate to a Christ who never smiles on them.When one thinks on Islam it appears to be they have a god who never smiles, a god who is standing over people with a big,big stick to beat the living daylights out of his followers, if they deviate from the rules and regulations. I don't think Christs smile is an indulgent smile,but a smile of pleasure and love,do you not think He welcomes us with a smile when we come into His presence?,and surely He welcomes sinners with a smile when they turn to Him for forgiveness, maybe we should learn to smile a bit more .
A  prayer..../ Dear Lord help us to reflect You in all things ,to weep with those who,to rejoice with those who rejoice,and to  smile more. Amen.